Printing giant RR Donelley files for bankruptcy in Argentina

The Chicago-based printing firm RR Donnelley announced that it is shuting down operations in Argentina due to an “insurmountable crisis” and filing for bankruptcy, after 22 years in the country.

The Buenos Aires province Ministry of Labour responded by decreeing a period of 15 days mandatory conciliation, after a meeting held with company directors and union representatives today in La Plata.

Sources from the department, led by minister Oscar Cuartango, revealed that tomorrow "in the early hours" provincial government officials would inspect adherence to the conciliation, with a follow-up meeting scheduled for Wednesday.

The Ministry's aim, as affirmed earlier by Cuartengo, is to "guarantee the jobs" of RR Donnelly's 400 employees.

The workers found out about the closure this morning when they went to work to the company’s plant at Km 36,7 Panamericana highway in Garín, Buenos Aires province, only to find its doors closed.

RR Donnelley Argentina announced its closure with a release glued at the plant’s entrance. “We are shutting down our operations in Argentina and filing for bankruptcy,” it read. “The Garín plant will remain closed to ensure the physical integrity of the company’s assets”.

After the initial shock, the workers decided to block the highway to protest against the “illegal closure”.